


Something's Got to Give

by CommanderBunnBunn



Series: The Sounds of Science [5]
Category: MacGyver (TV 2016)
Genre: Fever, Gen, Sickfic, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-30
Updated: 2020-11-30
Packaged: 2021-03-10 03:48:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,268
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27787765
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CommanderBunnBunn/pseuds/CommanderBunnBunn
Summary: my submission for Anguish's random morning fever fic request over discord.
Relationships: Jack Dalton & Angus MacGyver (MacGyver TV 2016)
Series: The Sounds of Science [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2031562
Comments: 14
Kudos: 47





	Something's Got to Give

**Author's Note:**

  * For [anguishmacgyver](https://archiveofourown.org/users/anguishmacgyver/gifts).



Jack knew something was wrong when Mac slept the entire plane ride home and the car ride back to his house. The giveaway was how Mac slept turned toward the door with his knees tucked into his chest like he was cold. Jack turned on the heat despite the fact that he was uncomfortably hot already, but he wanted Mac comfortable.

Thankfully the Phoenix SUV had heated and cooled seats, so Jack turned on his seat fan and Mac’s butt warmer and felt some relief. It was so stuffy and hot in the car, but Mac finally seemed comfortable enough because he unfolded himself and sprawled across the bucket seat, head tipped back and mouth wide open. He only felt the need to intervene when Mac started snoring loudly; it was one of those loud intermittent choking snores, like a grizzly bear with a sinus infection.

At a red light, Jack palmed the back of Mac’s neck to situate him into a non snoring position. He felt the heat coming off Mac’s skin even through the collar of the shirt. “Jeez, Mac. You’re burning up.” Jack brushed Mac’s hair away from his forehead to double check his temperature in case it was the seat warmer making his neck hot. 

Despite Jack using his palm, the back of his hand, and his wrist to feel Mac’s forehead, Mac didn’t even register that he was being prodded. “Damn, son! You’re not even fighting me.” Jack shook his head and put his arm across Mac’s shoulders to pull him closer and rest Mac’s head on his thigh. “Sorry, man, I didn’t know you were feeling this bad.” Ruffling his hair elicited a sigh from Mac, but he was otherwise sleeping hard with no intention of waking anytime soon. 

The mission wasn’t a tough one, but it was long. It wasn’t even long in the sense that it lasted for an extended period of time. Between wheels up to head out and landing back at home was a mere 56 hours, but outside of the actual traveling to and from, there was no down time whatsoever. Landing in LA in the middle of a rarely seen rainstorm was the icing on the cake; a literal perfect storm of soothing rain, raging fever, and utter exhaustion had Mac out like a light. He didn’t even notice when the SUV bumped up the driveway's threshold. Jack gently squeezed and shook Mac’s shoulder, “hey bud, we’re home.” Mac snuggled into Jack’s leg harder, wiping the drool from the corner of his mouth onto Jack’s pants. 

Jack chuckled, “you gonna get up or am I gonna have to carry your grown ass inside?” He paused, “in the rain?” Jack shrugged, finishing his one sided conversation, "OK hoss, if you insist." 

Using the seat controls near his door, Jack reclined the passenger seat and slid it back further from the dash. Jack unlatched his seat belt, guiding it back to its base to keep from smacking Mac in the head before carefully settling his partner back into his own seat. 

He shut off the engine and rushed inside to grab a blanket and open the front door. It took longer than expected because by the time Jack got back to the car, Mac had fogged the windows with his hibernating bear snores. 

The cool rain dripped into Jack's eyes, catching on his thick eyelashes as he clutched the army issue poncho liner he grabbed to keep Mac somewhat dry on the sprint back into the house. Mac barely flinched at the raindrops that hit him when Jack opened the door. With effortless grace, Jack shrouded Mac in the water-resistant blanket and scooped him up. 

He pulled the blanket over Mac's head and pressed his cheek into Jack's shoulder, shutting the door with a flick of his hip before running to the open front door. Impressed by his own rarely used "transfer toddler without waking them" skills, Jack wiped his boots on the rug and glided effortlessly to Mac's room to deposit his 30 year old non-toddler in his own bed.

Jack had preemptively turned down the sheets and placed his swaddled partner at the foot of the bed. When Jack freed him from the wet blanket, Mac sighed and rolled over, tucking his knees up into the fetal position. 

“Slow down, turbo, gotta get these boots and dirty clothes off first before you get cozy.” Jack pulled Mac’s legs back down to the edge of the bed and unlaced the top few eyelets to loosen each of Mac’s boots before pulling them off and placing them on the ground. 

They’d not been offered an opportunity to shower before getting on the plane, so both men were smelling pretty ripe despite their feeble attempts at cleanliness with some baby wipes on the plane. Jack was ready to jump into the shower fully dressed to get the funk off his skin, made worse by his rain soaked clothes, but first he needed to deal with Mac. 

Mac curled back up like a cooked shrimp after his shoes were removed, and Jack grabbed sweatpants and a long sleeved t-shirt out of Mac’s dresser. “Allright, little buddy, let’s get you cleaned up and then you can sleep for three days if you want to.” Jack explained as he clapped the younger agent on the back, still unnerved by the heat radiating from his partner. 

“Come on, brother, get up, I swear I’ll leave you alone in a few minutes if you just cooperate.” He sat on the edge of the bed and slid his arms under Mac, lifting him up to sitting. Mac wobbled his head back and forth with a moan and a grunt, rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand. Grabbing an arm full of comforter he fashioned a pillow out of the wadded up blanket and snuggled back into it, making a point to point his butt at Jack to show he wasn’t interested in doing what he asked. 

Jack shook his head and laughed, "do that again and I'mma pop your ass. Now get up." 

Mac rolled toward Jack with a heavy sigh, still clutching an armful of blanket "Jack, I'm exhausted. Can we just do this later?" He looked up at his partner with bloodshot tired eyes. 

"Maybe." Jack pondered for a moment, a sucker for Mac's pleading puppy act. "Let's talk about this fever first." He lightly pressed his palm to the blonde's forehead, brushing the hair out of the way. Mac tried feebly to turn away, as expected. "How long have you felt bad? No sense in lying to me. You're even worse at lying when you're sick." 

Another exasperated sigh, "I had a scratchy throat two days ago. I didn't say anything because I assumed it was because of the change in climates and local flora." 

"And?" 

"About an hour before we got on the plane felt cold, dizzy, sore throat, headache." "And you felt no need to mention this to anyone?" Jack moved his hand down, placing his thumb and middle finger on either side of Mac’s jaw. Feeling the lumps with a gentle circular motion, Jack frowned. Mac swallowed painfully with a wince, and his adam’s apple rubbed against Jack’s palm. “Lymph nodes are swollen, hoss. And that swallow looked like it hurt like hell.”

“Thanks, Doc.” Mac’s sarcasm was still alive and well. 

“You wish.” Jack smirked. “I’ll have work send someone over to swab you for strep in the morning. In the mean time, you smell like the ass end of a donkey. Let’s clean you up."


End file.
